UW Conference Focuses on Energy Law and Policy Issues

September 14, 2016

Attorney and former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Suedeen Kelly is the keynote speaker for the 2016 Landscape Discussion on Energy Law and Policy in the Rockies Conference at the University of Wyoming Friday, Oct. 14.

The event will feature top national, regional and local experts who will discuss current energy legal and regulatory topics, the role of technology in driving public policy and securing a sustainable natural resource future.

UW’s Center for Law and Energy Resources in the Rockies (CLERR), and the School of Energy Resources (SER) will host the fourth annual conference from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the UW Conference Center.

The focus is on key energy issues in Wyoming, the Rocky Mountain region and the nation. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead will provide a welcome introduction, and the conference will be moderated by former Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

Kelly, now with the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Field, is an internationally recognized energy industry expert. She represents a variety of clients in the electric and natural gas industries on business, regulatory, litigation, enforcement and policy matters such as electricity and gas markets, renewable energy, electricity transmission, carbon emissions, energy efficiency and distributed generation.

Nominated by Presidents Bush and Obama to three terms as Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member, Kelly resolved 7,000 disputes with published commission decisions and personally wrote 100 separate statements during her tenure. She is credited with spearheading change in numerous regulatory policies, including transmission interconnection and planning reform, integration of renewables into the grid, deployment of smart grid technology to the transmission grid, inclusion of smart grid demonstration grants in the stimulus effort and natural gas quality standards.

“The Landscape Discussion on Energy Law and Policy in the Rockies Conference is a good opportunity for participants of all professions, not just attorneys, who are interested in learning more about the energy law and policy topics at issue regionally and nationally,” says Temple Stoellinger, co-director of CLERR.

Conference session topics are: “Public Land States in the 21st Century”; “Regional Energy/Natural Resource Litigation of Interest”; and “Changing Energy Markets: A New Reality.”

For more information and to register for the conference, visit www.uwyo.edu/ser/conferences/upcoming-events/law-conf-2016.html. The conference cost is $50 for members of the public and is free to UW students and faculty members.

For more information, contact Emily Sorenson at serforum@uwyo.edu or (720) 979-7200.

CLERR provides a focal point for the many energy and natural resources activities at UW’s College of Law and serves as a vehicle for outreach from the College of Law to the interested public. The interdisciplinary approach of the center allows for the exploration of the legal, social, economic, technological and political realities that affect energy and natural resources policy.

SER was created at UW in 2006 to enhance the university's energy-related education, research and outreach. SER directs and integrates cutting-edge energy research and academic programs at UW, and bridges academics and industry through targeted outreach programs.